Isle of Coll

Scottish Island Holidays in the Hebrides

Traigh Hogh, looking north, Isle of Coll.

Isle of Coll is one of the small islands that make up the Inner Hebrides. The island is around 13 miles long and 3 miles wide.

Coll is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, west of Mull. It has a small population of around 220 people. The island has a small village, Arinagour, from which ferries sail to Scarinish on Tiree and to Oban on the mainland.

The Island of Coll is famous for it's wildlife and birds an ornithologists dream, with the Coll RSPB reserve playing a important role in the protection of the corncrake by encouraging farming methods that encourage this and many other bird species.

Colls north of Barrow Head.

The beautiful sandy beaches are another feature of this wonderful island paradise. The Island has a rich archaeological past and you will discover on Coll iron-age forts, crannogs and standing stones in the Hebrides.

Sorisdale Bay at the end of the road in the north east of Coll, also seen is one of a number of ruined buildings in the area surrounding the bay.

Travel to Coll

Books, Travel Guides ...

Katie Morag is the title character of a series of children's picture books written and illustrated by Mairi Hedderwick. The books are set on the fictional Isle of Struay, off the west coast of Scotland. Katie Morag lives close to the jetty above the island's only shop, where her mother is the postmistress and her father runs the general store.

Much of the topography, characters and situations, are inspired by Arinagour on the Scottish island of Coll, the island where Mairi Hedderwick lived for a number of years. Read more on wikipedia.

Available on Amazon UK

Breachacha Castle

Crossapol Bay near the south end of Coll. With over 20 beaches on Coll you will discover that most of them will be shared with a seal, otter and yourself. Most beaches are not close to the main ferry point so you do need to do a fair amount of walking (so good walking boots are advisable), a bike, or other form of transport.

View over the sand dunes near Crossapol. The machair landscape is very important for a wide range of birds and wildlife. On Coll the machair provides breeding habitat for Snipe, Dunlin, Lapwing and Redshank. Farming methods and the RSBP 1200 hectare reserve on the island are also designed to help the rare migratory corncrakes breed.

Corncrake at Totronald, Isle of Coll, RSPB Nature Reserve.

Holidays on Coll

External links to websites with holiday accommodation on the Island of Coll.

Below are a short list of websites you will find useful for information on Coll.